Mathilda: A Proffesional Story
by Tangence McCurson
Summary: After mobsters brutally murder most of the population of Mathilda's orphanage, she is forced to fight back, using everything Leon taught her. When more secrets are unveiled, she is forced to wonder about Leon's theories. Please read and review.
1. The Raid

_This story takes place a year after Leon's death..._

Chapter One...

She ran down the dirt road towards the main highway, leaping over the short brick fence that surrounded the school and then falling onto her ass, staring up at the sky and thinking, "Why the HELL did it have to be me? Why did I have to be born into a family of druggies? Why did _I _have to leave Leon?" She sat there for a moment, breathing in deeply, praying that Mrs. Fiengull hadn't seen which direction she had run to, and then took off back down the road, a few yards from the main highway. "Almost there," she thought, darting through the trees that lined the edges of the swerving dirt road. Five more seconds now, and she would reach the road. Four...She leapt into the air, flying over a small turtle that was trying to make its way back to the small pond nearbye. Three...Legs flying up and down, as she tried to speed herself up. Two...nearly tripping over a rock that lay up in the road...One...Reaching the gravel only to be---jerked back! Damn! And she had been so close! Mathilda turned and stared angrily up into the face of Mrs. Fiengull. "Damn," she said to herself, reaching into her pocket. There it was, where she had kept it for a month after finding it out on the road near the playground. The switchblade. One swift movement and Mathilda would be free of this bitch.

"No women and no children," she remembered Leon saying. And she had to be true and faithful to Leon's teachings...but this woman certainly couldn't be a woman, could she? She was purely evil and selfish, making the small children that she kept at Happy Homes Orphanage do her chores, greet guests, and even balance her checkbook, etcetera. She was evil and if Mathilda would just go ahead and do off with her, she would put a lot of people out of their misery, including herself!

But Mathilda angrily glared up at the witch as she dragged her up to the large brick house by her ear, the whole time swearing that she was such a good woman and that she didn't know why Mathilda would be so damn rude to just try and run away when she was providing her with food and a roof over her head. A lot of children would be very much greatful to have such! Damn Mathilda to Hell if she couldn't be more greatful!

Mathilda felt the switchblade again, but realized it wasn't worth it. This was her only nice shirt. It wouldn't due to have blood all over it.

ONE YEAR EARLIER...

Leon leapt onto Jack Jackson, tackling him and throwing him off of the railing. The man screamed in horror as he fell to his death four stories below. Mathilda, who had been hiding in the corner with a small dagger to keep her company--and protect her in case of one of Jackson's friends decided to pay them a visit--peaked her head out from the corner, dark and scared. "How--how did you--"

"It t'is a trick, 'ittle Mathilda. I have built up my strength after years of training."

"But...Leon...you were so strong..."

"Ah, Mathilda, strong is not the answer..." Leon smiled. "You must be quick, sweeft, and cunning! Like me. Watch." He quickly and, as he said, "sweeftly", leapt up onto one of the beams up in the ceiling and swung himself up over it, then into a crouching position. "Ah, you see?"

"Yes, that is wonderful, Leon," Mathilda said. "But how will I ever learn to do that?"

"Practice," said Leon. "Practice. Now come, Mathilda." He leapt down from the beam and with a quick movement grabbed a brown sack from the corner of the hallway. "We must go."

"What is in the bag, Leon?"

"A secret, dear Mathilda." And he began to make his way down the steps.

They didn't see the peering eyes staring at them from the fifth story window. The man's cellular phone rang. "'Allo?"

"Ah, ye-as! This is Francis. Have you found the money yet?"

"Nein, Herr," said the German man. "Leon took die goots."

"Well STOP HIM!"

"He hat already gotten away!"

"I will deal with you later." Click.

NOW...

Mathilda was in her room, which she shared with Natalie, Beringa, Monique, Leah, Tara, Hallie, Jessica, and Flora. There were only two beds. The girls were forced to squeeze in tightly, those who could fit. The odd girl out, usually Flora, was forced to sleep on the floor. Mathilda was struggling to leap up into the ceiling beams just like Leon had done. "Practice," he had said. "Practice."

"What are you doing?" said a sarcastic Monique, who was currently flipping through a copy of US she had stolen from the bedside of Mrs. Fiengull.

"Practicing," said Mathilda.

"Practicing what?" questioned Monique.

"Nunya."

"Nunya? Gurl, it is so my business what goes on in here! This is my room."

Mathilda rolled her eyes. "It is my room too."

"Huh!" said Monique. "Gurl, I was here first."

"So?"

"I have rights!"

"So do I!"

"Not as many as I do!"

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't!"

Downstairs, Mrs. Fiengull was baking a cake--for herself. As soon as the "ticker" went off, she pulled the hot cake out of the oven--chocolate--and began to chow down, after rubbing on three cans of white icing. She was in the middle of her fourth piece when she heard a knock at the door.

"Damn," she said, sliding the piece away from her, standing, and brushing crumbs from her skirt. "Who the Hell is it now?"

When she opened the front door, she found that there were two tall men in dark coats standing there. She started to say, "What do you want?" But didn't get a chance. The man to the left, named Tom, shot her in the chest using a pistol he pulled from his coat. The man to the right, Gaston, shoved her lifeless body aside, shut the door, and locked it. There would be no escaping. They were here for a reason.

"How did you do that?" questioned Monique, referring to the backflip that Mathilda had just made, mainly trying to show off for Monique and the rest of the girls. The boys, hearing the girls' applause at Mathilda's amazing feat, ran into their room.

"What happened?"

"Mathilda just did a backflip!" screamed Flora, not out of fear, but excitment.

"How'd you do that?" questioned Andrew, the oldest boy.

"Practice."

"Can you teach me?" cried Toad, the youngest boy. Toad was his nickname because, when he was just a little baby, he had befriended a tiny toad that lived out at the pond. He was six now.

Suddenly there was a gunfire, and Flora screamed, not out of excitment, but fear this time.

Harry had been shot.

Another gunfire, and Jody lay on the ground in a pool of blood. Soon there was a fire of bullets and chaos and screams. Panic filled the room as children scrambled to escape. Mathilda, spying two tall men--who she recognized to be Tom and Gaston, two men who had confronted Leon and her a year earlier, grabbed Toad and Hallie and ran for the window. They were on the second story, which meant that they could jump and not be killed. She managed to open the window and quickly shoved Hallie out first. Next she grabbed Toad and jumped with him half in her arms, half dangling in the air. They hit the ground with a thud.

Mathilda immidiately picked herself up, grabbed Toad, and took off down the hill. Hallie wasn't far behind. When they reached the wooded area on the far side of the hill, Mathilda fell over in exhaustion, but immidiately picked herself back up. She looked Toad and Hallie in the eye and told them to stay here.

Several more gunshots, followed by more screams.

Mathilda wanted to go back, but she didn't have any weapons. But then she remembered the switchblade in her pocket and the gun that Mrs. Fiengull kept above the refridgerator.

So what if this was Mathilda's nice shirt?

She would get another one.


	2. Suffer the Little Children

Chapter Two-

She couldn't reach the damn gun. It was so high up above she shelves which, to her inconvience, were high above the refridgerator. Mathilda had already tried to do her Twozzletoe, which is what she called it when she threw herself against one wall in order to slightly bounce off of the wall and grab onto something in the opposite direction. It wasn't as complicated as it sounded. The only problem was, the ceiling was too low. She hit her head every time that she tried to climb up on top of the refridgerator or Twozzletoe. So instead, she did a Beamleon. Beam-leon. She had come up with these unique, peculiar names during her tons of free time at the orphanage. The beam leon was the trick that Leon--key word in the phrase--had taught her to do the week before he died. Rebounding off of a wall and up onto a beam in the ceiling. She tried it but no matter how hard that she rebounded, she couldn't reach the beam that was so far above her. It was at least fifteen feet easy above the ground. So Mathilda didn't have a gun. She would have to take the large butcher knife that Mrs. Fiengull used for God-knows-what. After searching desperately for the could-be weapon for what seemed like hours, Mathilda finally found it hidden under the stove. Why the HELL was it under the stove? Did she cook with this butcher knife? And if so, did she keep it under the stove the whole time--on the floor! That was so disgusting. Mathilda had been eating floor food for the past year. She probably had some rare fatal disease contracted by eating floor food. This was so gross. Not big gross but disgusting gross. Or maybe she could call it big disgusting, because really and truly that is what it was. Just like Mrs. Fiengull.

Mathilda caught herself. Her mind had been wandering, and she was wasting time. She had to find Tom and Gaston before they could find her. And she had to kill them, come Hell or highwater. She had a switchblade and a butcher knife, neither of which could stand up against a gun. Therefore, Mathilda had to be sneaky. She had to be quick, swift, just like her rolemodel, the late Leon. She had to use her agility and wit to defeat these killers who wanted her for some unearthly reason and would stop at nothing to get her. She had to kill them.

No women. No children. Well, she suddenly couldn't kill them, because they fit the former. Mathilda laughed at her on joke, then turned and walked into the shadows that led from the kitchen to the dark corridor that led to the front door and the staircase that led up to where the children had once slept in peace--that was if you considered Mrs. Fiengull, aka Satan Queen, peaceful--and now where two killers waited for Mathilda.

No women. No children.

They had killed a woman.

And several children.

And now Tom and Gaston would pay for their evil doings.

Meet Mathilda: the cleaner.

Tom glanced out the window. He had to step over several bloody bodies, some of which were still breathing. He was used to this. He killed all the time. Even children. He knew how to go home and not even think about it. He had no remorse. It was his job. It's how he kept a house over his head and food and his mouth. It's how he kept his fingernails perfectly manicured and his hair perfectly trimmed. He had no bumps on his face. No scars. Medicine had gotten rid of it, of the stuff he hated that filtered his body. Yes, Tom lived the life. The perfect life.

Gaston, on the other hand, had just gotten into the mob lifestyle. He wasn't used to killing. He was forced to. He would much rather be the mean guy that did the rough talking, not the guy that suffered the little children. At night, Gaston couldn't sleep. He would stay up, rolling over and over, imagining those little kids in his mind, those poor women, thouse helpless men, those who had begged, those who hadn't even known what was coming at them from a mile away. Yes, Gaston was covered in guilt. Better yet, he was soaked in it.

Gaston stood in the doorway, looking out into the hallway to make sure he didn't see the liittle girl coming. He had heard she was quick. He heard that she was skilled in the occupation of cleaning. He knew that, if he wasn't careful, he would be taken out by her within a few minutes. She was almost fourteen. She could handle herself. Although she was only around 5'5'', she had incredible muscles. She looked like she could take out a man. She had obviously been practicing. What he didn't know was of the rage built up inside her. He didn't know that she was hateful towards all killers like he, because of the death of her brother, her Leon, and the little children she had lived with for over a year. Yes, she was furious, and he didn't know this. He also didn't know that, at that very moment, his partner, Tom, toppled over out of the window after being stabbed in the stomach by something in a nearbye tree. He didn't know that, as he stood there, out in the hall, a girl about 5'5'' was climbing in through the window and creeping towards him like a cat, not making the least bit of noise. "Tom," he said. "I don't see her. I think we should go look outside." There was no answer. Gaston sighed and repeated himself "Don't cha think we should go outside, Tom?" Still, no answer. Finally, he turned around. He never got to find out if they were going outside to check.

Mathilda stood outside, cleaing the guns that she had taken off of the mobsters. Two rifles, three shotguns, two pistols, several cases of bullets. a long range rifle, and several miscellaneous weapons. She also found several daggers and knives, along with a few grenades...

Grenades...

"This...is for...Mathilda..."

The explosion...

Mathilda began to sob, thinking of Leon, who she had loved so dearly. He gave up his life for her. For her vengence. Clutching one of the five grenades in her hand, she pulled the trigger and threw it into a window of the children's home, if that's what you could have called that terror house. She ran out to the trees where she had taken Toad and Hallie, and grabbed their hands and ran. They had to get away, and leave no sign of their past. In America, in the world, Mathilda, Hallie, and Toad no longer exhisted. They had died in the explosion that had torn the children's home to pieces.

Later, when investigators, perimedics, firefighters, and locals arrived, several onlookers would wonder, "Who would do such a thing to the little children?"

Luckily, firefighters were able to put out the flames before they spread. They managed to save two of the children's lifeless bodies. When they were examined by a mortician, he found that they had died before the explosion, from a gunshot wound.

Mathilda's plan partly worked, but partly didn't. She wanted it to look like all of the children had been murdered at one time. She wanted to fire to blaze the whole house down. Investigators managed to match DNA with certain body parts they found in the remains. They never found Mathilda, Hallie, or Toad.

But that was okay.

Because now Mathilda had some other business to take care of.

She had to find out who caused all of this and she wanted to kill him.

Or her...


	3. The Taxi Escape

Chapter Three...

Mathilda held the hands of Toad and Hallie. They stood on a sidewalk boardering the buisy streets of New York, Mathilda trying to hail down a damn taxi. Really and truthfully, Mathilda didn't know where she'd go. She found around two or three thousand dollars that Mrs. Fiengull kept around the house, for emergencies and her life savings and trip savings, etcetera. But Mrs. Fiengull was dead now, not that it was a sad thing, and the money was up for the taking. Mrs. Fiengull had no family or friends--the latter was a definate--and so where would the money go? Charity? Ha! Mathilda could have only wished! Probably towards the expensive dress Mrs. Fiengull would have wanted to be buried in or the expensive Gucci handbag she would want at her side. It was sad that Mrs. Fiengull didn't even know what was coming at her when she died--her life that day had been so happy. She was eating her famous chocolate cake for God's sake. And all of a sudden, with one fire of the pistol and a hole through her chest, Mrs. Fiengull lay dead on the floor of her orphanage. Not that it was there anymore. With a grenade she had found on the body of Tom--or was it Gaston?---Mathilda blew up the house, setting the children, the killers, and Mrs. Fiengull's body to flames.

What Mathilda didn't realize is that some of the children were still alive when she pulled the trigger and threw it into the house. They had burned to death. Mathilda couldn't have known and, anyway, she had done all she could to just save two children, rather than trying the impossible to save twenty or so. Mathilda finally saw a yellow taxi cab slow down, but, before she could reach it, a tall woman in a fur coat with several shopping bags and her hair up in curlers screamed at the frantic children that this was _her _taxi, that she had called for it already. Mathilda angrily released her grip on the two children and charged at the woman. She took one of the daggers from inside her coat, which used to belong to Gaston, and held it up to the woman's back. "I have waited nearly an hour for a cab. You will step back and call for another one. This is ours."

The woman, who's name was Mrs. Geraldine Feinz-Hanson-Schwartz-Johnson-Reginald angrily slit her two eyes towards the young girl and backed away. "Little ho-bo," she said under her breath. "You'll get what's coming to you." Mathilda smiled at her, an evil childlike grin, and began to help the small children into the car. That was when Mrs. Geraldine Feinz-Hanson-Schwartz-Johnson-Reginald quickly ran back into the store that she had been shopping in and said: "That kid threatened to cut my throat! She's got a damned dagger!" Obviously she was one of the valued customers, because, otherwise, the security officers would have done nothing. Instead they ran outside with their guns raised and began to look around.

Unfortunately, for them, the cab had already sped off down the street

Mathilda sat beside Hallie and Toad. They were hustling and bustling, excitment and happiness filled the car. Toad was screaming at the top of his lungs, "Old MacDonald had a farm--"

"Um, I want to eat there--at McDonald's!" screamed Hallie. "Yum!"

Mathilda rolled her eyes and began to search through her coat pockets. Gaston was a very tidy man. All the money he kept with him--she found around three or four thousand dollars--was kept in neat envelopes, with the amount written on the outside. Mathilda also found something else. A folded sheet of paper with a number written on it--it appeared to be a phone number, but, when Mathilda looked closer, she saw tiny words written under the numbers. "Sir," she said, glancing at the paper. She handed it to the taxi driver. "Are there any hotels near here?"

The taxi driver examined the sheet then nodded. "Yes. Are you looking for something cheap or expensive?"

Mathilda smiled to herself. "Expensive. _Very _expensive."

They had reached the hotel and Mathilda had opened the door to the taxi cab. Hallie and Toad had begun to pile out. She reached in her pocket for one of the envelopes and looked for a twenty to pay the man. That was when the taxi driver spotted how much money she had on her. He waited until she began to hand him the twenty and held up the knife. He smiled and said, "Shut the door." Mathilda, fearful--he was holding the knife up to her neck, looked at Toad and Hallie and told them to stay put. She shut the door and watched as he drove around the corner.

Grabbing a condom, the taxi driver locked the doors, unzipped his pants, and slid it onto his dick. Mathilda squirmed in her seat. She knew what was going to happen. The taxi driver wanted to have sex with her but--Mathilda didn't. He grabbed her and pulled himself in the back seat and began to undress himself. That was when she got her chance. She reached for her gun, which was in her coat, and held it up to his head. "You will let me go," she said.

That was when he went to grab her. Mathilda immidiately elbowed him in the mouth then kicked his arm away. She grabbed a knife and shoved it into his side. "I said," Mathilda was very impatient, "'You will let me go.'"

Mathilda climbed out of the car and, still a little shocked at what had happened, walked down the alley. Her first confrontation with the big city alone. Mathilda turned the corner and began to walk towards where Hallie and Toad stood. They were crying. "What happened to you?" cried Hallie.

"Nothing," said Mathilda, taking the two into her arms. "Nothing will happen."

And they turned and began to climb the steps up to the hotel.


	4. The BreakIn

Chapter Four-

Mathilda sat in the hotel suite watching _Jerry Springer: It's Not My Baby, It's My Father's_. "That is SO horrible," said Hallie. "His father was sleeping with his wife?"

"What's so bad about that?" said Toad.

"It's a different type of sleeping, Toad," snapped Hallie.

"What type of sleeping?"

"Nothing," snapped Mathilda before Hallie could tell him about sex. She was still dizzy about earlier with the taxi driver. Mathilda rubbed her head as it swam and fell onto her bed. She closed her eyes. "I need to get some sleep."

Hallie looked down at her. "Are you okay, Mattie?"

"Yes," sighed Mathilda. She buried her head in the fluffy pillow. Toad sucked on a mint he had found on the bed he shared with his stuffed animal, a cat named Jiggy. Hallie lay down beside Mathilda and, sipping from her glass of water, almost choked when she saw someone watched them through the window. He was on the balcony.

"Mathilda," she tried to say, but couldn't. She was so scared. "M--m-m-Ma-thil-daaaaahhh!" She grabbed Mathilda and pointed towards the balcony. "The m-m-man! He's out there!"

"What man?" said Mathilda, sitting up. That was when she saw him. He was tall and had long shaggy blonde hair. He had a strange grin on his face.

Mathilda quickly reached for her coat which was sitting up on a nearbye chair, and searched for one of the guns. She aimed it at the man who stood on the balcony and began to run towards him. "Who are you?" she screamed. "Who are you?"

The man shook his head and backflipped off of the second story balcony and dissapeared into the night. Mathilda quickly pulled open the sliding door and ran out onto the balcony. She ran towards the railing and, looking over the edge, saw that the man was running. She herself pulled herself up over the railing and let herself fall. Mathilda landed in a crouching position and, immidiately regaining her composure, began to charge after the man. Hallie and Toad watched her run off down the grassy hillside towards Central Park, darting down paths and past trees. She held up the gun she had taken with her and aimed it at the man and began to shoot. He disapeared into the darkness immidiately after hearing the gunfire and left Mathilda alone. She looked back up at her room and wondered, "How the Hell did he get up there?" She turned and began to make her way back towards the hotel room. "And how did they find us already?"

Mathilda ran a hand through her hair. She was in the shower later that night, washing her hair and scrubbing her skin. Her whole body aked and she just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. But she knew that she had to get ready. She had to find out what was going on with all of this. What did these people want? Who were they? What was the secret that was hidden inside the brown bag? Mathilda brushed her teeth and poured herself a glass of milk. Then another one. And another. Next she dressed in dark clothing and put on the long overcoat she had stolen from Gaston's lifeless body. She loaded her guns, cleaned her knives, and lined the grenades up in her coat. Next, she pulled her long dark hair up into a bun--then changed her mind and decided to pull her hair up into a ponytail--she didn't like buns that very much. She put on a pair of sunglasses--she didn't know why. It was dark outside. She guessed that she was just doing it either to hide her identity or just look cool. She then strapped a knapsack she had bought earlier that day to her back. Mathilda quietly opened the door, but then, changing her mind, turned back and walked over to Hallie. She woke the small girl up. "Hallie, listen to me," she said, shaking the girl gently.

"Yes?" said Hallie.

"Listen to me," said Mathilda. "I'm going to give you this dagger." She held up the knife. "If you see anyone at the balcony, you run. Only use it if you have to."

Hallie nodded sleepily. "O.K."

Mathilda lay the dagger on the nightside table. She turned and opened the door once again. That was when she heard Hallie. "Yes?" she said to the little girl.

"Be careful, Mattie."

Mathilda walked up to the large brown door. Yes, this was the address. 512 Hamilton Street. It looked more like a home, not an office. But then again, as a cleaner, you could never judge someone, or something for that matter, by their looks. Mathilda tried the door knob, but it was locked. It looked like no one was at home--probably out tonight, and the neighborhood was the ratty type where it looked like the only thing the neighbors cared about was themselves. So Mathilda pulled out her gun and shot the doorknob off, then kicked the door open. She came into a long hallway with a staircase up to a second story. The hallway opened up to a dining room, a living room, a kitchen, and another hallway. Mathilda walked into the living room and began to search through several large bureau drawers--she found several interesting things: guns, knives, letters, bundles of money...Mathilda stuffed most of it into her knapsack, making sure the guns were on safety. Next she began to look around the rest of the room. She didn't find anything interesting in the kitchen, but in the dining room, when stepping over a rug, she heard a loud CRREEEAAAKKKK! beneath it. She quickly lifted up the rug and found that one of the floorboards were loose. When she pulled up the floorboard, Mathilda found several bags of cocaine and weed. Mathilda set them back down, and stood, beginning to walk into the hallway and make her way up the stairs. That was when she heard someone talking. The talking was coming from outside. Someone was making their way up to the door. Mathilda hid at the top of the staircase behind the banister and watched as a tall man with no hair--he must have shaved his head--walked inside. "What the fuck? I think someone's broken into my house!" He walked over to the bureau drawer and shouted in anger. "Damnit! They took everything!"

Mathilda was breathing heavily. She had to get out of there and quick.

That was when she heard him say something that caught her attention. "I bet it was that damned little girl. She knows where Craig is hiding--the message was in that damned bag with the rest of that money! Damnit!" He threw the cellular phone across the room.

Who was Craig? Why did he want to know where he was hiding?

"Damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit! I'm going to see Fernando tomorrow. Yes Fernando Divoci, you moron! I don't want to face the boss yet. She won't be happy to know that this little girl broke into my house and stole all of my fucking stuff."

Mathilda was sweating hard, panting with fear. She quickly begant to creap down the hall, and entered his bedroom. She saw a window that led to the backyard, and began to climb out when she saw his pompilot. She quickly took it and stuffed it into her knapsack, then crawled out of the window and let herself drop to the ground. She began to run as soon as she fell to the grassy area, hoping that Hallie and Toad were alright.

"Send someone over there now!" screamed the man. "I want that girl! And kill her little friends while you're at it!"


	5. Hotel Enigma

Chapter Five-

Mathilda ran across the lawn towards the fence, beginning to climb the metal loops immidiately, trying not to scream as her skin was gashed by the barbwire at the top of the fence. Mathilda had to beat a car speeding with a foot of lead to a location three blocks away. It wouldn't be easy, but she knew that she had to or else it would mean the end for Hallie and Toad.

Mathilda ran down the hill, her leg singing with pain, and nearly fell to her side. She pulled the coat closer to her body. It was chilly outside. Nearly fifty degrees, in fact. She knew that she had to be chilly if she wanted to save Hallie and Toad, so she threw her coat to the ground and continued to run. Maybe some homeless person would find it. They would be greatful. They would be happy for it. Mathilda didn't care right then. All she cared about was getting to the hotel in time.

The man, Gerald Hoffmayer, waited by the door impatiently for the taxi to appear. "Thank fucking God!" he cried, raising his hands to the air. He needed to go and find that little girl. They said that they had sent someone, but he didn't know who, and whether or not they were reliable and all of that shit. He told the taxi driver to take him to the hotel--"Nearest one near here," he said. That was his best guess, he had no idea where in the hell these kids were staying.

"Where's that?" said the dumbfounded taxi driver.

"Pick one," said Gerald. "I've gots me an appointment to make. And I gots to be there on time."

Hallie lay in bed, flipping from channel to channel. Nothing was on. Maybe it was because it was nearly three in the morning and the fact that Mathilda had been gone for three hours almost made her very antsy. Hallie couldn't tell. Toad lay beside her on the bed, snoring loudly. He certainly had no problem sleeping...

Johnson and Hike ran up the stairs. They had gotten the room number from the hotel clerk. Said that they were their parents. Parents of the people staying in the room. Of the little girl Mathilda. No, they were NOT gay, they had to tell her several times. When O'Hara gave them the assignment, they never imagined that it would be this hard. Johnson especially. He wasn't used to this shit. Questions. Running up lots of stairs. He was used to just getting the gun and shooting them. It wouldn't be a problem. It really wouldn't. They were just kids, with every mob in New York looking for them, wanting to know where the hell Craig and all that fucking money went.

Johnson finally breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the second floor. "Damn that was a lot of work."

"Whatever, pussy."

"I am not a pussy."

"'Kay, whatever's you say."

"Shut-up, Hike."

"You shut-up, mother---"

"Do you need help?" came a voice from behind the two. They slowly turned around.

Mathilda ran across the grass towards the hotel. She was breathing heavily. She reached the sidewalk and began to run towards the staircase that led up to the entrance. "Hallie! Toad!" she cried as she ran exhausted up the steps. She nearly passed out in the rotating doors. She fell to the floor before the elevators. She knew that there wasn't enough time to make it up the elevators, but she had to. She simply didn't have enough energy to make it up the stairs. So she quickly pressed the up button.

Gerald Hoffmayer turned from the front desk. "Second floor," he said to himself. He turned and began to run up the stairs.

"Did I ask for your help?" cried Hike, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the elderly woman on the staircase.

"N-n-no," stuttered the old woman. "P-p-please don't hurt me, sir. I'm sorry."

"Sorry ain't good enough you old bitch." He shot her square in the forehead and watched her tumble down the staircase.

"Did you have to do that you stupid mother fucker?" cried Johnson. He slapped his partner upside the head. "Stupid ass."

Mathilda watched as the doors to the elevator opened. No one was on. Good. She quickly climbed in, breathless, and pressed SECOND FLOOR. She was losing a lot of blood, and fast. The barb wire had cut her badly. Mathilda pulled several guns out of her coat and began to load them. Hallie still had her dagger, right? Oh God, she hoped so.

Gerald screamed like a girl as the old woman's bloody body slammed against him. He nearly fell himself as he tried to shove the body to the side. What the hell was this? Someone fucking holding up the fucking hotel or fucking something? Damn if this town wasn't screwed up.

Hallie ran her hand through Toad's hair. He looked so sweet, asleep as he was. She smiled and kissed his forehead, just as the door burst open and Johnson and Hike leapt into the room. "There you are, you little mother fuckers. D'you know what the fuck we've had to put up with tryin' to get the fuck up here? Huh? Well, y'ur 'bout to find out, you stupid bitches." Johnson raised his gun into the air and aimed it at Hallie and Toad.

Two gunshots.

BAM. BAM.

And Johnson and Hike fell to the ground, dead.

Mathilda stood over their dead bodies, looking down at them. "Tsk, tsk. You boys need to learn." She ran over to Hallie and Toad. "C'mon, guys." She grabbed their arms and ran from the room, Toad to her left, Hallie to her right.

Gerald reached the top of the stairs, breathless. "Damn, this has been a hard, long night."

That was when he saw the three children running from the hotel room. He gasped. "What the fuck?" He began to run after them. "Hey! You kids! Stop!" But they didn't. Gerald ran after them, raising his gun into the air, and began to fire. "Die you mother fuckers!" He screamed as he fired several times.

Mathilda turned, the other two children still running, and raised her own gun into the air. "You don't mess with me, bitch!" she cried as she fired, shooting him in the chest, then in the head, then chest again. She turned and continued to run with Hallie and Toad. Hopefully, this was it. Hopefully, it was all over.

Hike and Johnson's dead bodies lay in the hotel room, in a large pool of blood. At his side, Hike's phone rang. BRIIIINNNGGG! BRRRIIIINNNNG! Of course, Hike didn't answer.

VOICE MAILBOX: "This is _Hike Hennetarie's _voice mailbox. Please leave a message after the beep. **_BEEEEPP!_**"

There came a woman's voice. "Hi, Hike. This is the Boss. Callin' to see if you got it done. If you didn't, it'll be your balls."

Beep.


	6. Little Brother Come Again

Chapter Six-

Mathilda lay in her bed the following day. Was it really her bed? She didn't own it or anything. It was the hotel's bed. So, she was really laying on the hotel's bed. But who gave a shit? Nothing mattered now. None of that shit she had worried about earlier. She guessed that she should be grateful for the fact that she had stopped bleeding after several hours. She felt a bit better, but couldn't run, leap into the air, do any of her specialized moves, anything. So she decided to rest for the rest of the week, because, sincerely, she couldn't fight anyone if she wanted to.

So she took the resting time as a chance to teach Hallie how to use and load a gun. The girl caught on quick, even though Mathilda guessed she was only around eight or nine. The girl reminded Mathilda so much of her brother--she was happy, vibrant, excited, and nothing put her down. That's why Mathilda took such a liking to the little girl. Hallie had short blonde hair--it resembled Mathilda's, except her's had been a dark brown. Hallie had blue eyes, not ocean blue because, in truth, the ocean didn't look very blue from where Mathilda stood. In fact, she had never seen it blue in her LIFE! It had always been either:

a.) black

b.)gray

c.)green

d.)brown

or

e.)green with a slight HINT of blue. Not completely blue, but with only a hint of it.

Mathilda loved to run her hands through the girl's hair. It was always so soft and silky. The next night, Mathilda decided to take them shopping. She had a couple of thousand dollars and they needed clothes. Plus, Mathilda needed to make a call to an old friend.

While the two were looking in the toy store, Mathilda took this as her chance to sneak away. She found a nearbye pay-phone and dialed the number, only to find out that he no longer lived there. The person that Mathilda was trying to call her was her childhood friend, Eny. Eny was a boy a year or two older than Mathilda. It turned out that his mother had just recently died from cancer and that he was forced to go and live in an orphanage. Mathilda remembered that his father had left Eny and Mrs. Bogart whem Eny--or Emu, as people often called him, when picking on him, etcetera--was only five years of age. Mathilda remembered wishing that she had a father who had run away, due to the fact that her father at the time was the most evil man on the face of the planet. Or at least to her. Plus, he was involved with drugs or whatever.

Mathilda found the number to the orphanage and dialed it up. "Hello?" she said, hearing a cackling sound. "Hello?"

There was the voice of an elderly woman on the other end of the phone. "Hello? Oh, hi deary. Who be you?"

"My name is Mathilda. I was calling, trying to get in touch with Eny--I mean Enrique Bogart." Mathilda feared the woman wouldn't know his nick name.

"Ah, yes, Rick. Hold on, I get him."

Mathilda waited patiently in the dark corner near the store. Another crackle, then a voice.

"'Lo?"

"Hey, Eny!" Mathilda was so excited to hear his voice. It sounded wonderful.

"Mattie? That you?"

"Yes, Eny. It's me."

"How did you find me? I thought fo' sure you was dead."

Mathilda's eyes widened. "What? What are you talking about?"

"These men came by when mom was real sick. Said they had s'um bad news. Said you died."

Mathilda wiped away a few tears from her eyes. "Did they...did they say their names, Eny?"

"Something like Gasoline. I think that was his name. Gasy...Gasoline..."

"Gaston?" said Mathilda.

"Yeah!" cried Eny. "How'd you know?"

Mathilda looked around. "Just a good guess. Listen, Eny, do you think me and you could meet somewhere? Could you leave the orphanage for a little while? I just want to talk to you. I really miss you. Plus, I've got a lot going on, and I think that I'm going to need some help. Do you think that you could help me? Do you think that you could...run away? Just for a few weeks?"

"I don't know, Mattie. D'you think I could stay with you? I don't want to come back here. It's horrible. Just plain horrible."

Mathilda smiled to herself. "I think we could work something out."

"So, who is this friend that we're going to meet?" questioned Hallie, holding on tightly to Toad with one hand and Mathilda with the other. "What's his name? Eny, right? How do you spell that? Is he nice? Is he cute? What's he like? Mean? Nice? Ugly? Fun? Does he know--"

"Shh, motor-mouth," smiled Hallie.

"Ribbet! Ribbet!" cried Toad as they walked along the side of the pond. He was spying two or three frogs. "Ribbet! Ribbet!"

It was dark. Around twelve or so. Eny and Mathilda had agreed to meet along the bank of the pond near the hotel. They had strayed from the path so that Toad could peer at the frogs.

Mathilda smiled down at Toad. "Are you done yet, Toad?"

Toad looked up at her and, with a serious face, said, "Ribbet!"

That was when they heard the rustle behind the bushes. Mathilda glanced up. There was someone in the bushes, she could only see their silouhette, but she knew that he, or she, was there. Mathilda took both Toad and Hallie's hands. She began to lead them down the side of the bank, towards a boat rental. They were the little boats that you pedal around in the water. She walked around the small shack-like building and saw one of the boats tied up to a short little peir. Mathilda hurried to it--red with blue stripes--and shoved Toad and Hallie in first. Mathilda stared down at them. "I want you to pedal out to the middle of the pond and stay there. I don't care if I'm in trouble or anything. I just want you to stay there until I tell you."

Hallie nodded and began to peddle.

Mathilda looked up and saw the man approaching her. She took a deep breath and began to walk towards him. "What do you want?"

The man, a unshaven creature with long shaggy blonde hair--suddenly, Mathilda remembered him from the other night--smiled at her. He walked towards her. "Hello, Mathilda."

"How do you know my name?" questioned Mathilda.

"I know a lot about you Mathilda. But know this. I am not here to harm you."

Then he stepped aside.

And there was Archie, Mathilda's brother.


End file.
